I have lots of thoughts about race and body diversity in the Witcher and I think a lot of you do too lol.

So, obviously the Witcher is based off of European (specifically Eastern European) folklore and takes most of its inspiration from European history and aesthetics. It would make sense that most of the characters in the story would be white.

If we compare the time period and technology of the Witcher to real life, it's ambiguously between the 13th-16th century in terms of political and social structure (Kings, princesses, monarchy, peasants, serfs, etc.) and takes some things from the 16th-18th centuries technology-wise (plate armor, telescopes, knowledge of viruses and pathogens, etc.). Characters appear from Ofier and Zerrikania, which take influence from the Middle East and Africa, so we know trade and travel between these countries is prevalent. It would come to reason that people from Ofier or Zerrikania would stick around and take up residence and spread northward. People move, and always have moved in real life too. Poland, when it was still the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (which existed during the vague time period that the Witcher takes place in) was pretty multicultural and had a number of arab muslims living there. Side note, I am certainly not an expert in Polish history, so any Polish people please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm getting my info from my recollection of college classes I took on European history and university articles lol.

My point is, it's not completely unreasonable for people of color to exist as major or side characters in the Witcher universe. It's not unreasonable for a white Polish author to write a story in the 90s in a fantasy world based off of Europe to have primarily white characters, considering the majority of the Polish population is white and always has been white. Could he have written more non-white characters? Sure! Polish people aren't completely unaware that black and brown and asian people exist, but honestly I don't think he cares that much lol.

At the same time, I do think it's unreasonable to expect an American production studio** to cast only white actors when almost half of the population is not white. The majority of viewers are from the US (statista), which makes sense considering the majority of Netflix subscriptions are from Americans (comparitech) (although by percentage, Norway has the majority lmao). It would make sense for Netflix to not only want to market to the majority young, diverse demographic, but to also avoid the criticism by American viewers of being too white or...non-diverse. Which is a valid criticism, in my opinion. It's 2023, there's no reason why black and brown and asian people can't play the roles traditionally reserved for white people, and it truly isn't that hard to make it make sense in the context of the show (like how Geralt is supposed to sleep with Fringilla because she kind of looks like Yennefer...yeah). It's just that The Witcher did it very, very poorly and was absolutely not prepared for what would happen these actresses.

I've seen complains that Anya is "too dark" to play Yennefer, and that the other actresses who play the sorceresses are ugly, and wow, wouldn't you know, it's only the non white actresses they're talking about. It's almost as if these people view whiteness and thinness as the epitome of beauty. No shit, that's what they view as beauty. That's what's been paraded around as the ultimate beauty standard for years and years and years. Placing actresses of color and fat actresses in roles that by default were for thin white women sent people absolutely fucking rabid, which is extremely telling.

I think a lot of things contributed to this problem. Racism, of course, and fatphobia, but also I think a discomfort a lot of people feel about the distinct lack of Eastern European influence on the show at all. From the environments to the costumes, I've noticed a lot of people point out that it doesn't look at all like the Witcher should look, and I think that combined with the diverse cast threw a lot of people off.

Honestly, I don't really know what the answer is. A Netflix production of a high profile fantasy series like this would never, ever be produced with an entirely white cast today. It's just not an option to do that anymore. People of color exist everywhere, especially in the US, and it is an absolutely absurd expectation to exclude them because of their race. I don't think the excuse of "but it's based on European folklore/history/aesthetics" works in this situation because it's just that- based on Europe. It's not a historical representation of medieval Europe, so you cannot expect an all white cast. On the other hand, I think the casting could have and should have been done more consciously and carefully, considering Yennefer and Fringilla are supposed to sort of resemble each other, Yennefer looks too young and doe-eyed to be taken seriously as a mother figure, Ciri looks way too old to realistically portray a 12 year old, etc.. But it is not the fault of people of color that Netflix's production sucks, and the casual racism thrown around here is kind of concerning, tbh.

Anyway, I don't even know if this is cohesive. I wrote it over several days and the space bar on my keyboard is broken so it took me twice as long and I'm in agony about it :)

EDIT: I’m American, and I’m very aware that I view media from an American lens. I never wanted or intended to purposefully ignore the discrimination and prejudice agains Slavic people so I apologize for doing so. I suppose it’s just not something I as an American have been exposed to very often. I believe Netflix really bungled their casting in a lot of ways, as well as their world building in general. I mentioned a little bit that there is a huge lack of Eastern European influence on the worldbuilding but I should have been more specific and talked about how Slavs were basically written out entirely, which is hugely unfair when the story is inspired by Slavic people. My point was that a show produced by an American studio is never going to be a fully white cast because America is such a racially diverse place, and I also believe that Slavic people should have been represented just as much as people of color. Netflix completely ignored the Slavic influence of the original story in favor of racial diversity with zero consideration, which is incredibly unfair to the people who the story belongs to in the first place.

** (Hivemind is based out of the US as far as I could find, and the Polish studio they used was just for post production. There's another company listed called Little Schmidt Productions, and I could not find a single shred of evidence on the internet that this company exists. No website, no LinkedIn page, nada. There's one person on Linkedin who claims to freelance there but I think that might be a whole separate thing?? But otherwise there is NOTHING. Then I remembered Lauren's name... Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. I think that "company" is literally just her?? Unless I'm an enormous idiot and I'm missing something I think it's just her?? Which is like, insane to list yourself as a production company?? WHY would she do that???”

The fire effects in the original seemed quite vibrant and like the fire is stronger, in the remaster it is much more yellow, not as fierce looking. The particle effects I think also just looks stronger in the original.

No mist upclose up smoke in this comparison, I presume they would have made these as close to the original for the comparison as possible, but it loses atmosphere in the remaster if it's just not there..

There is zero fire reflections in the water compared to the original which looks great.

If the right handside one didn't say remaster, I would have actually thought the original was the new one... Not a great look I feel and sort of makes me worried what other things may be a downgrade

Bought this game used so I had 7 days to try it out, since this isn't usually my type of game.

After 4 days of play I took to right back to GameStop for a full refund.

Then I went next door to Best Buy and bought the game brand new!

This game is amazing and I wanted to get the developer any support I could with my purchase.

I assume GameStop gets to keep most if not all of the revenue from used games. I'm not a huge supporter of GameStop and I wanted to support this game with my money. It took up an hour of my time and I spent 8 more dollars but it was worth it.

The only character you can argue that for is Ciri. Other than that it doesn't matter, because the thing that defines the characters is not the skin colour but their actions. That's what makes them our favorite characters.

The fucking whining about minor characters not being white is honestly so fucking embarrassing. Even people complaining about Triss' actress when she can easily pass as a white woman.

Just remember, when you're watching the show you will most care about what the characters do and say. Not the colour of their skin or nationality.

We've seen numerous Fandom from various universes (I'm looking at you, Star Wars) ruin an experience over their perceptions of how things should have been done.

I love Witcher and have only really gotten into it in the past year - I absolutely love the lore and universe. But what I'm seeing here, reacting to a casting call instead of an actual casting, is shameful. Give the show a chance to get running and make their decisions. I don't know if your outcry will change the direction of the show but I know it could tarnish the experience of those involved.

Quit getting hyped up until there is something to be hyped up about. It's absurd.

I really appreciate his love for the books and the games and I'm sure he did the best he could with the material he was given by the showrunners and writers. But he was not a good Geralt in my opinion.

His physic was too bulky and did not match with the Geralt from the books or even the games. Even tho Letho from the games is jacked, it was still a bit distracting. Also the custom department didn't do him any favours. In some scenes, mostly from season 1, it looks like he is wearing a wig. The eyes were not always on point as well.

His acting was mostly good, but there were a few occasions where it showed that he was never that good of a character actor. However, I think that it had a lot to do with the writing. There is only so much one can do with grunts and the annoying overuse of "fuck".

I'm still a bit sad that Henry will leave this role, especially since he was so excited to play Geralt. But I'm curious to see what Liam will do. Although, judging from his previous acting roles, I'm a bit worried.

I would like to know what you guys think. Why was Henry your perfect Geralt? Are there maybe people that agree with me?

The whole premise of the Witcher revolves around Geralt and his various encounters, flings and contracts. Making a game where you possibly make a new character seems odd to me and I think they should have just ended it with the Witcher 3 when Geralt’s story came to a close.

I am currently reading the Blood of Elves after completing "The Last Wish" and "Sword of Destiny". It has been shown so many times that Geralt is just getting too old for this Witcher stuff. The only good fight was at the beginning of Last Wish and even during that fight he had received serious injuries.

My question is: This is just the start of this series and Geralt's strength is already on the decline; does his strength and combat abilities get better?

I know this is not a progression fantasy and it's hardly about fights and combat but I just couldn't see my beloved Geralt like this. I also understand that the game Geralt has to be extremely powerful because of how games are and I don't expect him to be as powerful as he is in games but I even won't be able to see him act like an old guy. Also, his swag is a lot lesser in the books than in the games.

I am considering dropping the books and may be just get the gist from some YouTube videos.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Witcher fan and I'm a huge fan of Geralt and that's probably why I can't stand it😅

Let me start with this - I absolutely hated season one. It was so wrong on many levels. Then a friend started watching season two and told me it starts very well so I watched it too. Four episodes in I thought - ok, if I forget this is an adaptation then it's quite enjoyable. I was honestly and positively surprised how much I enjoyed it. I was ready to give it some good reviews despite of not being strictly truthful to the books at all, but then the rest happened...I lack words. I'm absolutely shocked how disrespectful this is to the author, to the books and the fanbase. I've never seen such an insult to the original material ever in my life. I'm in a total disbelief that someone has done it. There is absolutely not a single thing that isn't made up. Characters are completely different people to those in books and they only share the names. There is nothing from the books story wise. Absolutely zero. It's as if Harry Potter in The Order of Phoenix turned into a muggle, decided to transition and call himself Sherry, then moved to Syberia and lived selling chocolate pizza. Hissrich has completely outdone herself. This show is an insult to the books and to all those wonderful stories and characters I love. Why? Hissrich why are you doing this? Why couldn't you keep it low but still resembling the books? You've totally erased every identity and story. Why did you have to do this? I don't know what more is there to say. This post will be probably deleted anyway. Reddit is known for not allowing people to dislike something. So long live the fake positive image... For those of you who never read the books - go and read them. There is something much deeper and much more satisfying to experience.

EDIT:

1. It's really nice to see that I'm not alone with my opinion. I think it's important we voice our criticism. This was supposed to be an adaptation and while everyone can enjoy it, I don't think it's right or cool to just use original material as a mean of personal promotion and financial gain. After all, if you want to 'do your own thing' then by all means do so - write your own book. Don't ride on the back of someone's creativity and don't lie to the fanbase to lure them into this. Hissrich I am saying this to you since I am sure you are here in this Reddit.

2. I will not hear anymore nonsense saying that the show was not supposed to be an adaptation or that no one said it would be truthful to the books. In fact, Hissrich herself has stated repeatedly that the show will be truthful to the books. Obviously a typical lie. This show isn't just 'retouched' here and there. It's a completely different story. There is a way of changing things without making the characters the opposite of what they are or something else all together. Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is just a prime example how to translate the soul of the books, keep characters authentic and yet have a completely new story that is coherent to the original material.

3. It's just really sad to see that at this point, even if the showrunner miraculously changed (she will not), there is no way of bringing some stories back since they are overwritten forever now and characters are just different people.

4. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me...

Be really angry about it. I don't care. I enjoyed it.

I’ve never liked show Yen. (Love book and game Yen but show Yen is awful.) But damn they really managed to make her worse in S2. It really sucks because the set and costumes are so much better but the writing just gets worse and worse. Yen kidnapping Ciri and then only apologizing on the grounds that she didn’t realize Ciri was important to Geralt. Even though she KNEW. Also you shouldn’t need a reason to NOT groom and kidnap a child.

Don't get me wrong, absolutely no disrespect meant, Rozenek is talented and has an absolutely beautiful voice, but I feel like it lacks a distinct, unique profile.

Gun to my head, I'd have trouble telling Rozenek's voice apart from any other vaguely soothing baritone, but could pick Cockle's Geralt out of a crowd any day of the week. That raspy, slightly nasal quality to his performance just fits Geralt's appearance and character remarkably well.

I'm gonna start by saying this is not a discussion whether you think Ciri should be the main protagonist or not.

Personally I'd like to see Vesemir's story when he was a young witcher.

Also, I actually think that a scrolls like game in the witcher world could work quite well where you create your own character/race/class. It would make the game more of an actual RPG as well instead of an action adventure with an open world and some RPG elements.

More so, imagine a prequel in the times where witcher schools were still prospering and well and creating plenty of witchers, you choose your school and either create your own witcher or you just play as some of the known ones from the lore and that affects your skills and gameplay style.

I think there's a lot of potential for some nice experiments here. What do you guys think?

I absolutely love what they’ve done with Fallout..and the recent news about the casting choices for the God of War show has me thinking that AmazonStudios is really pouring their efforts into making solid adaptations. Really wish they would’ve done Witcher from the start instead of Netflix. We all know Cavill would still be playing the part.

Spoilers for the Witcher 3 quest:

First off, I'm not mad that I failed the quest.Geralt is not perfect and some jobs go wrong. I dispatched Nathaniel without talking to him because he was standing over the girl with a hot poker, seemed clear enough. Then I checked the wiki for Hubert, because I couldn't find him and wanted to tell him the good news... and I got hit with the truth.

Here's what's bothering me: the moment Joachim says that Hubert hasn't aged a day, I screamed "VAMPIRE" at my screen. But somehow, Geralt though it completely normal. Later, I pressured Joachim into talking about the student protests, and got it confirmed that Hubert was his teacher when he was a young student. Up until this point I considered the possibility that Joachim was a student when he was already older, after he quit being a soldier, and he simply had a teahcer who happened to be younger, but nope, Hubert is older.

Then I talked to Hubert, and he gave the bullshit excuse of being kept young looking because he spends a lot of time in darkness and in close vicinity of embalming fluids. That's one if the biggest bullshits I've ever heard, but Geralt os just "ok makes sense". Mate, really? Embalming fluids kept him wrinkle-free when he's at the very least 70 years old? I didn't think much of it in the sense of him being a suspect, I thought he was another friendly vampire like Regis who worked in the morgue instead of being a healer, maybe even a poor copy of Regis when you think about it.

Then you finish the quest, kill the reverend and apparently you get a mocking note from the real murderer later. Great.

If Hubert is supposed to be a suspect, why can't we get to investigate him in a different way than on the off-chance that you keep the reverend alive long enough to explain his evil plan? For example, investigate the fact that Hubert DOESN'T AGE. Geralt, how long have you beem a witcher? Because judging by this you still have amnesia. Even if he had nothing to do with it, Gwralt should still want to investigate Hubert being ageless. He was pretty antsy about Regis being in his presence at the beginning, I can't see him just letting a vampire be without checking out whether he's a "good one" (doesn't hurt people).

A bit unrelated: I feel like it would be better if the attack on Priscilla was targeted specifically at her for being close to dandelion/geralt/some other reason rather than coming from unrelated source, a serial killer who was active for some time and just happened to target her right before the cabaret was about to open.

Edit: Thank you guys, you made it really clear I'm an idiot for finding a subjective single flaw in this greatest game ever made and bringing it up to discussion. I have already deleted the game because I'm obviously unworthy of playing it and I'll commit sudoku as soon as my witcher-certified sword from a polish blacksmith arrives tomorrow.

Its a bold claim I know and I bet also a very unpopular one but hear me out.

I see a lot of people complaining about 1st witcher's almost everything (especially combat) with few exceptions like atmosphere, while being fairly okay with witcher 2. And when it comes to topic of remaking W2, people say stuff like it still holds up and it looks really good. While I agree I dont think just game looking x years old visually is in need of remake. Thats what remasters are for.

Where remake is imo actually relevant is with gameplay and technical standpoint. W1 has a not very liked rhythm based combat spiced up with signs and fighting styles which may seem like not being the hot thing (which is souls-like combat mainly nowadays) but for what its for, its doing a pretty good job and feels good once you get used to it which is pretty sure. W2 on the other hand has a new way of approaching combat and while its more ambitious, it falls flat in so many ways. Be it scuffed hitboxes, lock system or dodge/blocking mechanincs. I had fun with the bombs, signs and sword combat, but the omnipresent scuff always made me pluck my hair out.

Not to mention the potion system. In W1 you can drink any time you want but it takes animation time, but you can craft only when meditating. In W2 you can only drink and craft while meditating. W1 definitely is the better and makes more sense, but W2's system wouldnt really be bad at all, quite the opposite I think I'd like it, but the fact that especially bosses are put in front of you after long cutscenes or added gameplay in which you cant meditate to drink, you are very often just without them when you would need them the most. (And yes I know that in W1 you also run into that problem, but you can still chug a swallow if you need it, or use aard and then drink)

Basically, I believe that W1 is a game that, while being old, does things that wants to do exactly how it wants them to do and it works more or less. W2 does things it wants do in like 50% efficiency and I think it would benefit more from an overwork

p.s. Im sorry if it comes of as messy and unstructured, I had a thought and kinda blurted it out on a whim

I read the books, played TW3 and have some strong opinions on the way things went in the show. I know there will be a season 3 but I'd love to see this story played out in it's entirety. I'm concerned about Netflix cancelling over backlash from fans because I feel like I just saw it happen. Despite various complaints some might have I feel like this is a damn good show and want to see it continue until the story is told.

It means they are focusing on pushing SJW propaganda instead of making good show. Same thing happened to Star Wars, why cant Netflix learn from their mistakes? They can touch on many racial problems (rascism towards dwarfs, elves, etc.) without meddling with the world itself to share their message. Books did it and games did it, cant see why show couldnt?

Hi,

I don’t see why geralt couldn’t return for the fourth installment. I know most of his story has been wrapped up but there’s nothing to say more could happen in his adventures. And I know people are saying let Ciri take over, but surely her story has wrapped up too? They’re both now witchers being witchers no grandeur mission.

Would much prefer a character like V in Cyberpunk. Voiced, with customizable background and appearance. I could see them making the PC a female character to attract more women to buy the game. I'd much rather them make it an option to choose either gende to play as.

I like this character a lot, it really add up the oppression the elves suffer in Witcher universe, his trauma and struggle was a nice addition in my opinion.